Understanding True Discipleship and the Book of Life

Welcome to the Christian Bible Study Ministry podcast! In this episode, we delve into two interconnected themes from the Scriptures: remaining steadfast in the word of Christ and the significance of the Book of Life as mentioned in the books of John and Revelation.

We begin by exploring John 8:25-31, where Jesus emphasizes the importance of continuing in His word to prove true discipleship. This passage highlights how genuine belief and adherence to Jesus' teachings mark one as a true disciple, bringing freedom through the truth.

Next, we examine Revelation 3:1-6, where Jesus addresses the church in Sardis, urging believers to wake up and strengthen their faith. He promises that those who overcome will not have their names blotted out from the Book of Life, a reassurance of eternal security for true believers.

We also reference 1 John 5:4-5 to clarify that those born of God are overcomers through faith in Jesus Christ. This victory over the world and sin is a testament to being part of Christ's eternal kingdom.

Join us as we discuss these profound truths and their implications for our faith journey. Remember, sanctification is a continuous process, and true discipleship is evidenced by a life committed to Christ.

We conclude with a prayer for God's blessings and provision for all listeners, especially those facing difficult times. May you find comfort and strength in His grace.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello, everybody. I am doing a rather unusual arrangement here due to some technical
problems that I'm having that were unforeseen.
This is the Christian Bible Study Ministry podcast,
and today we're going to be talking about what is really two different things,
but they are kind of related, dealing with Scripture from the book of John and Revelation.

(00:26):
And And it deals with the issue of remaining in the word of Christ,
proving that you are truly his disciple or a true believer.
Believer and the mention of
the book of life in revelation you know
where jesus says uh revelation 3 5 that if you are a conqueror if you are a

(00:51):
person who overcomes he will not blot out your name from the book of life and
there is a controversy about this and And honestly,
first, I started off this study with reading from the book of John,
where Jesus tells people, if you were made in my word, then you are indeed truly my disciples.

(01:13):
And so we are going to start reading. We are going to start reading.
I will start in John 8, verse 25, just to give you a little bit of background
on what was going on here.
Then said they unto him who art thou and jesus
saith unto them even the same that i said unto

(01:34):
you from the beginning i have many things to say and to judge of you but he
that sent me is true and i speak to the world those things which i have heard
of him they understood not that he to them of the father then said jesus unto
them when ye have lifted up the son of man then shall
you know that I am he and that I do nothing of myself,

(01:55):
but as my father has taught me, I speak these things.
And he that sent me is with me. The father hath not left me alone,
for I do always those things that please him.
And as he spake these words, many believed on him. Here we are, verse 31.
Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if you continue in my word,

(02:15):
then you are my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth and the truth
The truth shall make you free.
So the Jews, you know, certain of the Jews here had seen and heard Jesus preach,
and some of them did believe.
And he told them, he had told them previously, you know, he was speaking of the Father.

(02:35):
He was trying to tell them, these people, about the Father that they claimed
to worship, the Father of Abraham. him, but yet they did not fully understand
what Jesus was telling them.
Some of them did, and so he tells them, if you continue in my word,

(02:57):
you are truly my disciples indeed.
Think about it. You know, what other real meaning could there be in this than
saying that if you say that you are a Christian and you wholeheartedly continue
in believing the words of jesus christ then yes you are a true christian you are born again.

(03:18):
You will continue if you are a true disciple of jesus christ and so now we're
going to excuse me for a moment while i pull this up here i'm going to read to you the,
passage from revelation chapter 3 and please excuse me again while i pull this up here.

(03:40):
And we'll read the first six verses of this chapter here.
To the angel of the church in Sardis write, These are the words of him who holds
the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds.
You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
Wake up, strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your

(04:07):
deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.
Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard.
Hold it fast and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief,
and you will not know what time I will come to you.
Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes.
They will walk with me dressed in white, for they are worthy.

(04:28):
The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white.
I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life,
but will acknowledge that name before my father and his angels.
Whosoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
So this is talking to a future audience, theoretically.

(04:50):
Well, actually, it's not theoretically. It is speaking to the future audience,
whoever overcomes during the time of the end, which is the tribulation.
These people overcome by believing in Jesus Christ we see this in other scriptures
too which we'll talk about here shortly Jesus is saying that if you overcome

(05:11):
he will not blot out your name he will not blot your name out from the book of life.
And we must remember that. And so now we're going to turn very quickly to a verse here.
It's 1 John chapter 5.
And we're going to read this. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.
And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

(05:34):
Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
So we are told right here, plain and simple. Who is it that is an overcomer
or a conqueror? It is the person who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
If you are truly born again, then yes, you are a conqueror by the Bible's own definition.

(05:55):
You have conquered through the death of Christ the world around you.
The curse of sin does not have eternal consequences over you anymore.
You have, by joining the body of Christ, joined in his victory over the devil and death and sin.
You are a conqueror and

(06:16):
as such he has promised you in the
book of revelation that your name will not be blotted
out of the lamb's book of life and an
evidence of your name being permanently written in that book is a continuance
in the faith of you know a continuance in the word of jesus christ you're going

(06:37):
to stumble you're going to fall down you're going to get dirty and sometimes
times. You might be that way for years.
You know, sanctification is not a one-time event.
It is a process by which we are brought closer to conformity to the image of Jesus Christ.
A lot of controversy about this issue, I know, and I'm sure that that's,

(07:00):
you know, I know that my message here is not going to be the end all.
That's not going to be the end of it.
He has told you, I repeat this again, your name is not going to be blotted out of the book of life.
There are passages in the Old Testament, Psalms, where David wishes the Lord

(07:20):
to remove the enemies, the names of his enemies, from the book.
The way this is translated is the book of the living ones.
So it's talking about a removal of the physical presence of these people from
under the sky. You know, basically, in other words, he wanted them to die physically.

(07:44):
And Moses mentions the same thing when he was fed up with the people.
God, you know, he actually asked for God to basically kill him if need be in
order to save the nation of Israel.
So but Jesus is talking about the Lamb's book of life, the eternal book of life,
the register, the register of the eternal citizens of heaven.

(08:05):
This is what Jesus is talking about
in Revelation. And so we must remember that, you know, for one thing,
Jesus has told us on more than one occasion in his own very word that if we are his,
he is the person who is our shepherd.
He is the good shepherd.

(08:28):
Jude, you know, in the early parts of Jude, it talks about how we are preserved
in the Father. We are preserved in Jesus Christ.
Why would we need to be preserved unless we had a tendency to fail,
to fall, to stray, to wander?
If we didn't have the tendency, we would not need to be preserved.

(08:50):
And I just want to conclude that right here. I know it's not the longest message
that I've ever done, but it is something which has been on my mind and is very important.
And I want to say that, you know, I usually start off this program by saying
I hope everybody's blessed. And, well, I'm going to do that now.
I pray that with all this stuff going on in the world, I know the economy is in shambles.

(09:12):
You know, it's not the best.
And I pray that whatever the situation is that's facing you,
that you will have the blessings of God that you will see as grace.
Some people might not know where their next load of food is coming from,
but it will come in some manner.
People are having medical problems. People are struggling with mental health

(09:35):
issues and all these things.
And I just pray that all of these needs will be taken care of,
provided for. The Lord knows your needs.
He may even give you some of your wants. Who knows?
And so, dear Lord, I just pray right now that if there's anybody watching this
or who winds up listening to it, that if they do not know you,

(09:57):
if they do not know Jesus Christ,
and I pray that they would sense you wanting to come into their lives at this
moment and let you in, that they believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
and that he is the atonement for their sins,
that he is the only one who can make them clean.
In Jesus' name I ask this, Lord. Amen.